Tuesday, 22 September 2015

In September we were pleased to welcome Yvonne Brown for a return visit. She had a new talk about her recent visit to New Zealand. The first part was inspiring photos. Lovely views of sand patterns, flowers, foliage, rocks, water, mountains and townscapes. We were looking forward to seeing how she had used this inspiration in her work. Well, apparently she only has 24 hours in her day like the rest of us, and hasn't had time to use the images! She had plenty of other work to share with us, including some lovely pieces with flowers and see through panels.

Here is Yvonne, with some of her work. Unfortunately I couldn't go to the workshop, but I have heard good reports of what a lovely teacher she is, and how pleased people were with the pieces they produced.

Here you can see the Celtic samples for the class. Gorgeous.

June couldn't make the meeting, but her lovely husband, Ed, came along in her stead with a selection of baked goods. They all looked scrummy, but I didn't manage to take one home with me.

The photo doesn't do justice to this quilt. It had been donated to the Bloodwise Charity shop, and was instantly recognised by Chris as a Durham strippy quilt from the late 19th century. It was all beautifully hand quilted with patterns of fans and ropes. A real treat for us all.

This beautiful quilt had been made by Hollie. She used a jelly roll, and while it looks great to me, she said it hadn't turned out to give her as much satisfaction as she had thought it might. Sometimes jelly rolls can be very coordinated, and while they are very satisfying, don't always have that zing. Perhaps that was what she meant.

Here is another of Hollie's quilts. (She is a teacher, so has had chance to do some finishes over e summer) a gorgeous set of colours.

A hearts quilt in blue and yellow - always a good colour combination.

The back of the quilt, with a very interesting and creative back! Nothing like using it up!

This is a purple quilt made by Liz and donated to Project Linus. Super.

This is Liz's quilt too. It's a one patch quilt, and you can see the fabulous way the blocks extend into the border. What is more difficult to see is the way the quilting has extended some of the blocks into the border by echoing their shape. Beautiful.

This is a heart quilt made by the Linus ladies at Knit and Stitch. It's actually a big nine patch, and despite its many makers, went together very well.

This is another quilt made by the Linus ladies. It's a no strip nine patch, and for those people going to The Big Textile Show this weekend, we will be demonstrating the technique. Looking good.

This is my Bonnie Hunter's Grand Illusion. It was a mystery quilt for 2014, and while I thoroughly enjoyed making it, I think it is my least favourite of Bonnie's designs. It is very, very busy, although I tried to quilt it so that the Stars stood out. Not sure if I succeeded!

This is a stunning quilt with spirals and circles. The central dahlia is fabulous, and the colour scheme is beautiful.

This fiddle quilt is absolutely beautiful. The colours are so pretty and I love the inclusion of the knitted purse at the top right. So clever.

This quilt was made by Ann for a rented property, and has seen its best days. It has now been retired and replaced by another of Ann's beautiful quilts.

This is an old quilt, probably 1930s or 40s from the fabrics. The hexagons have been assembled into lozenge shapes. Fascinating.

Here is another of Ann's beautiful quilts. It is hexagons and half hexagons, made up as a kind of strippy. She has donated this to Project Linus. Thank you, Ann.